Sarande

Sarande’s headline sights cost nothing: wandering the seafront promenade and the old town is free, and the climb to the Lekursi Castle viewpoint over the bay is open and unticketed, which keeps the best of the town within reach on almost any budget. As the closest Albanian city to Greece, it doubles as a cheap base for the wider Albanian Riviera, with Ksamil’s island beaches a short, inexpensive hop south and the UNESCO ruins of Butrint National Park an easy day trip. Prices here run well below the Greek island just across the strait, so budget travelers often use Sarande as the affordable counterpart to a stop on Corfu. Pair it with Gjirokaster inland or Vlore up the coast to string together a low-cost southern Albania loop.